Home > Our Projects > Plant diversity assessment in limestone karsts in Laos and Vietnam

 

Plant diversity assessment in limestone karsts in Laos and Vietnam

The flora of Indochina, including Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, is known as the Indo-Burma hotspot due to its high species richness and endemism, making it an important site for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation in Southeast Asia. However, a few studies of the flora in these countries are available, and the accumulation of botanical specimens is very small among Southeast Asian countries. Among them, the limestone area is known to have a unique ecosystem with a high percentage of plant species being endemic to this area and many species being in danger of extinction. Therefore, assessing plant diversity in limestone regions of Indochina is an urgent issue for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

The purpose of this project is to elucidate the diversity of plant species in the limestone regions of Laos and Vietnam. We collect plant distribution information through field surveys, prepare herbarium specimens to develop a database, train young researchers in plant taxonomy, and return results to the public.

 

 

Implementation Organisations (as of 10 April 2023)

Principal investigator

Dr. Shuichiro Tagane
Associate Professor, The Kagoshima University Museum

Collaborators

Japan Dr. N. Tanaka (National Science Museum, Tokyo)
+ one postdoctoral fellow
Laos Dr. P. Souladeth (Faculty of Forest, National University of Laos)
+ three researchers and one Ph.D. student
Vietnam Dr. V.S. Dang (Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology)
+ one researcher and two Ph.D. students

 

Project Updates

The survey was conducted in Laos from August 29th to September 12th, 2023.

  • Duration of the field survey: September 1st to 7th, 2023
  • Location: Forests along the Nam Aan River and limestone karst within the Nam Kading National Protected Area, near Viengthong town (Bolikhamxai Province), east of the capital Vientiane
  • Activity photos: PDF 556KB

The survey was conducted in Vietnam from December 17 to 27, 2023.

The survey was conducted in Laos from March 13th to 24th, 2024.

  • Duration of the field survey: March 14th to 20th, 2024
  • Location: Nam Kading National Protected Area, Bolikhamxay Province, central Laos, and its adjacent areas including a part of Khammouane Province
  • Activity photos: PDF 23MB

The survey was conducted in Vietnam from June 29 to July 12, 2024. The outline of the field survey is as follows:

  • Duration of the field survey: July 2 to 8, 2024
  • Location: Kien Giang and An Giang Provinces, southern Vietnam
  • Activity photos: PDF 20MB

The survey was conducted in Laos from September 2 to 13, 2024.

  • Duration of the field survey: September 3 to 9, 2024.
  • Location: limestone karst and lowland forest areas in Khammouan Province, central Laos.
  • Activity photos: PDF 13.7MB

The survey was conducted in Vietnam from December 3 to 14, 2024.

  • Duration of the field survey: December 5 to 12, 2024.
  • Location: Phong Nha-Ke Bang Quang Binh Provinces, North Central Coast Vietnam.
  • Activity photos: PDF 14.9MB.

The survey was conducted in Laos from March 1 to 13, 2025.

  • Duration of the field survey: March 3 to 9, 2025.
  • Location: limestone karst and lowland forests in Khammouane Province, central Laos.
  • Activity photos: PDF 33.7MB.

 

Project Reports & Deliverables

Scientific papers

  • Kongxaisavath, D., S. Tagane, T. Yamamoto, T. Vongthavone, P. Phonepaseuth, T.B. Vuong, P.Q. Trong, and P. Souladeth. 2023. Flora of Nam Kading National Protected area VIII: Additional new records of flowering plants Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc., 65 (2): 85–92.
    (Click here for the Siam Society website)
  • Yamamoto T., P. Souladeth, P. Phonepaseuth, D. Kongxaisavath, T. Vongthavone, T.B. Vuong, P.Q. Trong, K. Souvannakhoummane, and S. Tagane. 2024. Nymphanthus namkadingensis, a new species of Phyllanthaceae from Laos. Phytotaxa 650(3): 199-205.
    (Click here for Phytotaxa website)
  • Phonepaseuth P., T.B. Vuong, P. Souladeth, T. Yamamoto, T. Vongthavone, D. Kongxaisavath, P.Q. Trong, and S. Tagane. 2024. Two new records of fairy lanterns, Thismia (Thismiaceae) for the Flora of Laos. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 52(2): 56-61.
    (Click here for Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) website)
  • Yamamoto T., Dang V.S., Souladeth P, Tagane S. 2025. Nymphanthus adenophorus, a new species of Phyllanthaceae from Vietnam. Phytotaxa 683: 18-24.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.683.1.3
  • Tagane S., Souladeth P., Phonepaseuth P., Vongthavone T., Kongxaisavath D., Yamamoto T., Murakami N. 2025. Tetrastigma fruticosum, a new species of Vitaceae from limestone karst in central Laos. Phytotaxa 683: 9-17.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.683.1.2
  • Tagane S., Dang V.S., Truong B.V., Nguyen Q.B., Pham Q.T., Nguyen T.V., Yamamoto T., Kongxaisavath D., Souladeth P. 2025. Wrightia nuichuaensis (Apocynaceae), a new species from southern Vietnam. Phytotaxa 683: 87-90.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.683.1.10
  • Tagane S., Dang V.S., Truong B.V., Nguyen Q.B., Pham Q.T., Nguyen T.V., Yamamoto T., Kongxaisavath D., Yamazaki K., Nuraliev M.S., Fomichev C.I., Souladeth P. 2025. Memecylon longipedunculatum (Melastomataceae), a new species from coastal areas of South Central Vietnam. Phytotaxa 683: 1-8.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.683.1.1
  • Kongxaisavath, D., Tagane S., Souvannakhoummane, K., Phengmala, K., Sengthong, A., Dang V.S., Nguyen Q.B., Yamamoto T., Tanaka N., Takahashi K., Souladeth, P. 2025. Orophea phouphamarnensis (Annonaceae), a new species from limestone karst in central Laos. Phytotaxa 687(1): 15–20.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.687.1.3
  • Dang V.S., Le T.A., Hoang T.S., Ha V.B., Pham Q.T., Souladeth P., Tagane S., Naiki A. 2025. Two new species and one new addition of Lasianthus (Rubiaceae) for the flora of Vietnam. Phytotaxa 694: 57-67
    https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.694.1.4
  • Pham Q.T., Tagane S., Souladeth P., Yamamoto T., Phonepaseuth P., Vongthavone T., Kongxaisavath D., Truong B.V. Dang V.S. 2025. Two new records of Lasianthus (Rubiaceae) for the Flora of Laos. Rheedea 35(1): 39-45.
    https://rheedea.in/journal/epSg1lTM
  • Nguyen Q.B., Truong B.V., Tagane S., Le T.A., Pham V.N., Quach V.T.E., Bui V.H., Nguyen T.V. 2025. Taxonomic notes of the genus Eumachia DC. in the flora of Vietnam and description of a new species. Taiwania 70(2): 262-274.
    https://taiwania.ntu.edu.tw/abstract/2067
  • Souvannakhoummane K., Phonepaseuth P., Souladeth P., Lanorsavanh S., Tagane S., Tanaka N. 2025. Studies on the Gesneriaceae in Laos II: Lysionotus calcicola, a new species from limestone karsts in north and central Laos, supported by morphological and molecular evidence. Nordic Journal of Botany 2025: e046
    https://doi.org/10.1002/njb.04620

Pictorial books

  • Yamamoto, T., V.-S. Dang, P. Souladeth, B.V. Truong, Q.B. Nguyen, Q.T. Pham, T.V. Nguyen, K. Yamazaki, D. Kongxaisavath, and S. Tagane. 2024. A Photo Guide to Plants of Nui Chua National Park. The Kagoshima Univ. Mus., Kagoshima Univ.
    (Click here for downloading the PDF 129MB)

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Nagao Natural Environment Foundation
4-20-9 Midori, Sumida-ku
Tokyo 130-0021 Japan
Phone : +81-3-6659-2070
Fax : +81-3-6659-2272